Topics in Brief

• Author: International Law Group

Singapore High Court rules against financially troubled Asian paper company

The High Court of Singapore has ordered financially strapped Asia Pulp & Paper Company (APP) to pay more than $10 million to two of its suppliers. The prevailing creditors were Avebe (Far East) Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of a Dutch company, and Fiber Source International Corporation of New York. Early last March, APP had stopped all payments of interest and principal to its creditors, claiming that it needed twelve months in which to restructure its debt. The company apparently has debts and other obligations adding up to $13.4 billion. It has hired Credit Suisse First Boston and J. P. Morgan to advise it, inter alia, on how to stay out of bankruptcy court. A research report has valued APP's Singapore assets as between $20 and $30 million. Most of its assets lie in Indonesia and China in the form of pulp and paper mills. APP recently announced, however, that, as a result of a settlement agreement between the Sinar Mas Group (which controls APP) and the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), shares in APP's main Indonesian operating companies were pledged to IBRA. Thus, liquidation of APP might not give creditors a claim to these shares. Several Singapore lawyers have also pointed to the difficulty of enforcing the above High Court judgment in either Indonesia or China.

Citation: The Wall Street Journal (Europe), May 7, 2001, page 7, byline of Sara Webb, Staff Reporter.

Belgian court convicts four Rwandans of genocide

On June 8, 2001, Belgian jurors handed down convictions of four Rwandans for taking part in the 1994 genocide against members of the Tutsi tribe. This appears to be the first time that a civilian body in one country has found persons guilty of committing crimes against humanity and genocide in another country. A 1993 Belgian statute authorized the local courts to try charges of atrocities no matter where carried out. The jury included a number of lay Belgians, e.g., a hairdresser, a truck driver, a university teacher and a journalist. Despite the magnitude and complexity...